Elderbot

Artificial Intelligence as a Solution to Loneliness?

A person is holding an oval device with a digital display — A chatbot to fight loneliness: To use Elderbot, study participants don’t need any prior digital experience, their own cell phone, or an app—they just need to speak. Pictured: Researcher Rodrigo Schettino.

© Max Planck Institute for Human Development

A chatbot to fight loneliness: To use Elderbot, study participants don’t need any prior digital experience, their own cell phone, or an app—they just need to speak. Pictured: Researcher Rodrigo Schettino.

© Max Planck Institute for Human Development

Loneliness affects many people, especially as they get older. It can lead to serious health problems, such as depression, cognitive decline, and a shorter life expectancy.

This is where Elderbot comes in: a digital companion for people aged 60 and older. With the help of artificial intelligence (AI), it listens, asks questions, and offers encouragement. The Elderbot is not intended to replace either people or therapy. Instead, it helps build self-confidence and social skills—anonymously, with low barriers to entry, and from the comfort of home. In this way, it can break down inhibitions and encourage people to reconnect with others. But how much closeness can AI provide? And where do we need genuine human interaction?

Elderbot is a joint research project of the research centers Humans and Machines and Environmental Neurosience of the Max Planck Institute for Human Development and the Universitätsklinikums Hamburg-Eppendorf. The chatbot is currently in the testing and trial phase.

Elderbot

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